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Accepted!!! I AM ECSTATIC!!!

So many rejections so quickly. I'm nervous to look at my results.

Congratulations on the CLS @mrs12! You must be over the moon!

I have so many questions for you @ZebraFinch! Can you, me, and @mrs12 (if you'd like) have a Google Hangout session this weekend?

@ZebraFinch Wow!!! This is amazing. You are so blessed and I am incredibly happy to see a fellow GradCafer to get such an amazing fellowship! Please update us on the process as you know it (and if it doesn't breach anything)--we may be going through it soon! Or... again! Congratulations again!!!

OMG!!! Congratulations!!! What happened??? I remember talking to some fellows that went from alternate to "fellows," but they were still waiting for a security clearance to be sure. This was someone I talked to a couple months back, and they were also a Pickering alternate-turned prospective fellow-now unknonwn. Maybe you got their spot because they also didn't pass the security clearance?

Same here. The acceptance letter was great, but the reality of no funding makes it a bleak dream. Though I expected as much for masters programs. I also applied to external fellowships, so hopefully things will work out in the end. I am willing to take out another $20-40K in loans, but more than that will make me strongly reconsider graduate school.

Is not getting that funding letter pretty much mean $0 funding?

This is amazing. I was just lurking around because I've been feeling really sad and overwhelmed today from learning that I should've done more in the past in terms of applying for fellowships for graduate schools, and now I feel like it may be too late. I feel a bit of regret, and maybe a little disappointed that I didn't invest in writing more essays. This analogy made it more graspable for me though. I felt like in the last couple months I've just been writing, applying, and preparing for what may never to come (I applied to highly competitive fellowships and moderately competitive graduate schools) and now that things are happening I feel like I should've done more to apply for other fellowships too so that I won't have to take out loans. I'm ranting. @Coffee is my spirit animal I hope the you are feeling better, and it does sound like burning out. Though graduate school will always be there, and by the sound of it, you're are highly to get into your programs again if you reapplied. Why not take some time off to decompress?

I researched it right before I applied for it. The thing was, I was not planning on applying for Payne because I had only a week to apply since I found out about it really late and because the acceptance rate was so, so low. But I'm so glad I had the encouragement from a Rangel fellow to apply!

Seems like in the results' page everyone got accepted. Not even one waitlist or rejection--do you think this year has a higher acceptance rate, they are sending out all the acceptances first, or something else is going on?

That's good to hear @jrdnmadrid! Will you still go if you somehow don't get the Pickering? And what type of FSO did you say you wanted to become when you applied for Payne? They're quite specialized, which is good in a way where you develop really specific knowledge. I wonder if people can switch FSO types easily in USAID.

Have you thought about taking the FSOT? If you select a cone and let's say you don't pass, the next year you can select a different cone. And if you do pass (which, with some guided studying is completely doable), you can start preparing for the Personal Narrative and Oral Assessment, and then once you do get an interview for Pickering, either this or next year, you will have a strong footing into the process already! Though I know that you're still in school and it's hard to have so many things on your plate. But it wouldn't be a bad idea. That reminds me. I haven't started on my Personal Narratives yet since I've been only preparing for the interview! And thank you so much for your confidence. A part of me feels really good about it because it's what I've been doing for years now, though I know that the other finalists will also be amazing so I will definitely be humbled on that interview day. Whatever happens, I really hope to make good friends and to gain more insight into USAID's FS.

Haha, I think someone made a fake account under "Marsha Brady" and posted something very critical. "Could do a much better job setting and meeting expectations. If results were not definitely going to be out at the end of Feb., why not just say by mid-March and give yourselves more time? Then if the results were done by the end of Feb., everyone would be happy as they were out early."

I asked Pickering about it, and they were incredibly nice about it. However, unfortunately the Payne finalists who are selected will have to make their decisions one week before Pickering sends out their interviews, and I think my email may have instigated them to start contacting Payne because right after my email, they sent an email back saying that they will treat Payne fellows like Rangel fellows--meaning they will communicate with them also before sending interview invites so people can't get both.

For the Fulbright ETA to Thailand, the money was adequate. But if you have bills to pay back at home (which I did) you will have to be very frugal.

I was accepted into a Masters in Public Health program at Yale, and when I called the financial aid office to ask if there's any way to get more funding, the head of financial aid was incredibly rude and he thought that I was lucky to be even accepted to even ask for money. I had $0 from Yale, so everything would've been in loans. All $140,000 of it. Good luck though, if you find a way. And congratulations of your acceptance into Yale!

@mrs12 You still have a lot to look forward to also! You are learning a critical language and are still in the running for some great scholarships and fellowships. I talked to Pickering today actually, and one of the coordinators told me that the Pickering Fellowship committee has an internal deadline for the 23rd-25th, and that communication would follow the week after. Another representative said that they expect to send notifications out before April 1st. I narrowed it down the freak-out dates for you! Haha. And that is a great achievement! You are so talented--I can't imagine you being anywhere far from success in the near or far future.

FOUR YEARS?! Wow. That's dedication! I hope the admissions committee sees that. Did you mention it in your application?

Looks like it'll be this or next week when we start hearing back! "Our goal is to start sending decisions in the first or second week of March. We will inform you of when your decision is ready to view by sending you an email telling you to log in to the application site to view your decision letter. I will also post an entry to this blog when the first round of decisions have been sent."

Thank you!!! I think I'm just incredibly lucky. I can't believe I somehow beat the odds. The email said that 15 applicants were invited to interview (from an unprecedentedly high number) and seven will be selected to become fellows--this is much better in contrast to the 18 finalists and five fellows from the previous year. But I am still going to try my best in the upcoming weeks to prepare as much as possible. Your interview is coming up so soon! Have you joined the Yahoo! FSOT and FSOA groups?

Still so far away. I was reading some of the fellowships and some of them were really applicable to me. However, I am really trying to get a couple other fellowships and so I didn't apply to any at HKS specifically this year. Good luck to other people who applied though!

Thank you @mrs12! This forum is so supportive no matter what happens. I'm so blessed to be a part of it. I'll be interviewing on either March 15th, 16th, or 17th. And I can't believe that you have to wait an indeterminate amount of time for the CLS! By the way, what is the recent award that you won???

Thank you @ZebraFinch! I'm so excited right now that I can't even concentrate at work!

Good luck to everyone today!!! Especially @mrs12!